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The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (C3.ai DTI) is a new research consortium established by C3.ai, Microsoft Corporation, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC. Jointly managed and hosted by UC Berkeley and UIUC, C3.ai DTI was created to establish the new Science of Digital Transformation of Societal Systems. C3.ai DTI's mission is to attract the world's leading scientists to join in a coordinated and innovative effort to advance the digital transformation of business, government, and society. Through partnerships with leading universities and strategic engagement with key industry partners, C3.ai DTI will catalyze advances in mathematical, statistical, and computing research, including Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Recent surveys, studies, forecasts and other quantitative assessments of the progress and impact of AI highlight the growing respect for data and its uses by businesses everywhere and the increasingly positive--but still mixed--attitudes towards AI by US consumers. The second wave of AI, right now, is soon going to fail because too much trickery and even self-trickery is used"--Simone Teufel, University of Cambridge "What's happening right now is not'AI.' That was an intellectual aspiration and that's still alive today as an aspiration… the dreams and aspirations are five hundred years from now--that's like the Greeks sitting there and saying it would be neat to get to the moon someday. We have no clue how the brain does computation"--Michael I. Jordan, University of California, Berkeley

Stuart Russell is a distinguished artificial intelligence researcher, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, an Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and leads the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at UC Berkeley. Along with Peter Norvig, Stuart is the author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, the most widely used textbook on artificial intelligence. In his most recent book, Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control, Stuart proposes a fundamentally new approach to developing AI. In this interview, Stuart warns that AI is reshaping society in unintended ways. For example, social media content selection algorithms that choose what individuals watch and read do not even know that human beings exist. As AI becomes more capable, he suggests that we are going to see bigger failures unless we change the way we think about AI altogether. Stuart argues that to ensure AI is provably beneficial for human beings, we must design machines to be inherently uncertain about human preferences. This way, we can ensure they are humble, altruistic, and committed to pursuing our objectives even as they set their own goals. We also discuss why AI needs regulation similar to civil engineering and medicine, the impact AI is going to make over the next decade, autonomous vehicles, and a variety of other topics.

C. Light Technologies, a Berkeley, CA-based neurotech and AI company participating in UC Berkeley's premier accelerator SkyDeck, is introducing the world's first retinal eye-tracking technology paired with machine learning to assess and predict neurological health. The technology is fast (10 seconds), non-invasive and objective. Eye motion has been used for decades to quickly triage brain health. Now C. Light Technologies, a Berkeley SkyDeck neurotech, and AI company is measuring it down to the cellular level to monitor and track neurological diseases in seconds and determine how well medications are working. Neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), concussions, etc. affect millions of lives around the world.

Machine Learning Lecture at CMU by Ke Li, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, Berkeley Lecturer: Ke Li Carnegie Mellon University Abstract: In this talk, Li presents his team's work on overcoming two long-standing problems in machine learning and algorithms: 1. Mode collapse in generative adversarial nets (GANs) Generative adversarial nets (GANs) are perhaps the most popular class of generative models in use today. Unfortunately, they suffer from the well-documented problem of mode collapse, which the many successive variants of GANs have failed to overcome. I will illustrate why mode collapse happens fundamentally and show a simple way to overcome it, which is the basis of a new method known as Implicit Maximum Likelihood Estimation (IMLE). It turns out that this problem is not insurmountable - I will explain how the curse of dimensionality arises and show a simple way to overcome it, which gives rise to a new family of algorithms known as Dynamic Continuous Indexing (DCI). Bio: Ke Li is a recent Ph.D. graduate from UC Berkeley, where he was advised by Prof. Jitendra Malik, and will join Google as a Research Scientist and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) as a Member hosted by Prof. Sanjeev Arora.

With just about one month until go-time, TC Sessions: Robotics AI 2020 (March 3 in Berkeley, Calif.) is going to be a true powerhouse event. Prepare to spend the day engaging with the leading innovators, makers and investors bent on shaping the future of these two game-changing technologies. Don't have a ticket yet? Beat the price hike at the door and book your ticket now. Last year 1,500 attendees packed the house, and we're on track to surpass that number come March.

At a recent meeting of the World Economic Forum, someone asked Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, when superintelligent artificial intelligence (AI) might arrive. He loosely estimated it to be within his children's lifetime, and then he emphasized the Chatham House rules of the meeting and that his conjecture was "strictly off the record." But, he writes in his new book Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, "Less than two hours later, an article appeared in the Daily Telegraph citing Professor Russell's remarks, complete with images of rampaging Terminator robots." Hyperbole by many media outlets has made it challenging for experts to talk seriously about the dangers of artificial superintelligence--a technology that would surpass the intellectual capabilities of humans. Nonetheless, many experts have written books on the subject.

Stuart Russell, a leading artificial-intelligence (AI) researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of the book Human Compatible (Penguin Random House, October 2019), sits down with McKinsey Global Institute chairman James Manyika to discuss our future as AI transforms our world. In this broad conversation, they explore the immense benefits ahead and what our role will be as AI becomes more pervasive. They also delve into potential challenges we may face with our current approach to AI, and how we can redefine AI to ensure it helps humanity achieve its full potential. James Manyika: When you look at the AI field today and you see all these announcements and breakthroughs, what excites you the most? Stuart Russell: With today's technology, delivering high-quality education to everybody on Earth is just the beginning. Even fairly simple AI tutoring tools have been shown to be very effective. So that can only get better if we figure out how to roll it out to the people who really need it.

I watch most TV shows and movies on my iPad these days, and something strange happened recently. My iPad – or rather apps such as Hulu and Bravo linked via Apple TV on my iPad – started showing me commercials in Spanish. That was interesting, since I hadn't touched the language settings, watched any shows in Spanish, or done any kind of internet activity in another language. But even more curious, was what had changed when the new commercials popped up. We had just moved to a more Spanish-speaking area of Oakland, California.

As the new year gets underway, security will be top-of-mind for 82% of CIOs, according to Adobe's "2019 CIO Perspectives Survey – U.S. Market Topline Report," released in November. "Security is the No. 1 challenge," said Gina Tomlinson, chief technology officer at T5 Technology Solutions, who also heads up the Privacy Commission for the City of Oakland, Calif. She indicated data privacy would be a major focus as well, particularly due to the California Consumer Privacy Act that went into effect in January. "It will be groundbreaking for corporations to adjust their practices [to comply]," Tomlinson told CMO by Adobe. CIOs also need to be nimble to deal with all of the changes happening.